The boys are back in
the BBT tonight, as they welcome the Edinburgh Capitals into the Welsh
capital. This was the Capitals first
game in two weeks, after they had an unexpected week off when their game
against the Nottingham Panthers being postponed due to bad weather last Sunday. On the other hand, our Devils were coming off
a bad weekend, losing out to both the Belfast Giants and the Braehead Clan,
despite putting up a fantastic fight in both games. Were they able to turn their luck around this
week? Of course they were…
First period started
off fairly well for our Welsh boys, with an early powerplay showing some
extreme improvement. Shots were coming frequently
for the Devils but nothing was getting through fellow Welshman Nathan
Craze. With the first half of the first
quiet, it wasn’t until the 12th minute that the Devils lit up the
scoreboard; our very own powerhouse forward Phil Hill started off the Devils’
scoring with a fabulous goal, from Jeff Pierce and captain Stuart MacRae. Of course, this wasn’t going to be the only
points of the game going to this line, but we’ll get back to that in a minute. Unfortunately, the Devils didn’t stay ahead
for long, as two minutes later, Rene Jarolin, who has just announced that he is
to re-sign with the Capitals for the 2012/2013 season, slotted the puck passed
Stevie Lyle.
With a goal for each
side, you would think that that was all the action we had time for in the first
period. If that was what you thought,
then you would have been wrong. At the
exact moment the buzzer rang, an altercation broke out in front of the home
bench, involving Sam Smith and Gerad Adams from the Devils, and Jiri Hanzel
from the Capitals. Each player got at
least two for roughing, and Smith got a game for ‘third man in’. The period ended 1-1 and Capitals would start
the second on the powerplay.
Despite starting the
period on the penalty kill, the Devils didn’t stay down for long. At the 25 minute mark, Captain Stuart MacRae
pushed Craze for his second points of the night. The Devils’ second goal of the night was set
up by an incredible run by number 93, Jeff Pierce, with the other going to Phil
Hill. The Devils’ luck and good play
continued on into the second half of the second period, when MacRae got his
second of the night, with a powerplay goal no less! Devils were now 2 goals ahead, until Edinburgh’s
MOM Jarolin also got his second of the night, on the powerplay, bringing the
score to 3-2 at the end of the second.
With the Devils
leading by a goal going into the third, it was clear that Edinburgh were
desperate for an equaliser. Their
desperation, although bringing on some great play, failed to even the score
and, after some big hits from the Cardiff side, Devils’ MOM Jeff Pierce managed
to widen the deficit further with a powerplay goal, giving the Devils a 4-2
lead. This was followed up by the Devils’ 5th
goal, scored by number 25 Phil Hill.
This was his second of the night, demonstrating how lethal that line
truly was; all goals and assists, bar one, where tallied by the
Hill-MacRae-Pierce line. The final score:
5-2 Devils, with those two crucial points going in the pot.
Tomorrow night, the
Devils travel north of the border for the return leg of this double header
weekend, hoping to bring the success with them to Murrayfield. Hopefully, the MNL will be covering the game,
but are in desperate need of texters (if available, email OJ on matchnightlive@gmail.com). On the other hand, the Edinburgh Capitals
will be webcasting the game at http://www.edinburgh-capitals.com/webcast/
. Let’s go Devils!
